Chapter 56
Midge Milken prowled angrily
into the conference room across from her office. In addition to the thirty-two foot mahogany
table with the NSA seal inlaid in black cherry
and walnut, the conference room contained three Marion Pike watercolors, a Boston fern, a marble wet bar, and of course,
the requisite Sparklett’s water cooler. Midge helped
herself to a glass of water, hoping it might calm
her nerves.
As she sipped at the liquid, she gazed across
at the window.
The moonlight was filtering
through the open venetian
blind and playing
on the grain of the table. She’d always thought this would make a nicer director’s office than Fontaine’s current location on the front of the building. Rather than looking out over the NSA parking
lot, the conference room looked out over an impressive array of NSA outbuildings–including the Crypto dome,
a high-tech
island floating separate
from the main building on three wooded
acres. Purposefully situated behind the natural
cover of a grove of maples,
Crypto was difficult to see from most windows
in the NSA complex,
but the view from the directorial suite was perfect. To Midge the conference room seemed the perfect vantage point for a king to survey his domain. She had suggested once that Fontaine move his office, but the director had simply
replied, “Not on the rear.”
Fontaine was not a man to be found
on the back end of anything.
Midge pulled apart the blinds. She stared out at the hills. Sighing ruefully,
she let her eyes fall toward the spot where Crypto stood. Midge had always felt comforted
by the sight of the Crypto dome–a glowing beacon regardless of the hour. But tonight,
as she gazed out, there was no comfort.
Instead she found herself staring into a void. As she pressed her face to the glass, she was gripped
by a wild, girlish
panic. Below her there
was nothing but blackness. Crypto had disappeared!
No comments:
Post a Comment